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Anyone know where any cool spots are?

I live just north of portland oregon and i was wondering if anyone knows of any cool places that are semi local to go wheelin at. i know about the mainstream spots like sandlake, but does anyone know any places a little more private. all ideas are welcome; sand, mud, trails, climbs ect.

So many places are getting gated around here.
There was an area close by me that was, in the forest services words, "Not off limits to OHV use at this moment, but it will be soon." that was last year. It is now.

Your best bet is to stay at places like TSF/Browns camp and Sand Lake for the time being. Just about anything else is a no go and will just make it so they take more away from us. (We p*** them off, they in turn close more trails. in our best interest to stay where we belong.)

There is an area opening sometime soon NE of Vancouver, WA in the old burn area. (Could already be opening.)
And some class 2 trails out here around Mt. Hood that are supposed to open at some point.
But FS money is short and it takes lots of it and time to get trails built, marked and ready. (besides the fact they really don't want to open them anyway but are just to try and cut down on illegal wheeling in the area)

Also get some maps and do some exploring. I've regularly found open roads that have turned into decent trails just due to lack of maintenance and being real remote. As long as you respect signs, gates, tank-traps. We'll keep having something left to wheel.

Sorry to sound like a party pooper. It's just that they are looking for any excuse in this state right now to make 4WD a pointless feature. So we gotta be extra careful these days. Or we'll be finding new hobbies.

I just figure a warning now is better than finding out what they do if they catch you. Depending on their mood around here it's anything from just a couple hundred dollar ticket. To really huge ticket and they impound your rig.

Ya most of our local spots are patrolled now like gunners lake and bunker hill. red cut is a more difficult area so the police wont go out there. how cool is browns camp? Jones beach is pretty cool too. What about Washington, I don't know any places out there. I'm always looking and exploring but it take a lot of gas even in a subaru.

Browns Camp is pretty fun. There are trails ranging from rough powerline access roads. To stuff that is just a mandatory winch up even for the rock buggies.

You'll need an OHV permit. (like $10.50 for two years, can be got at most motorcycle shops) And maps can usually be had at most of the gas stations an such near there.

All the trails are on the maps with difficulty ratings like how they mark ski runs and all are marked out in the forest. So it's pretty easy to get what you want out of it.

Just watch out for the big summer holidays. Can be a zoo out there. And if it's a hot summer check ahead. The past couple years the trails have been closed for a couple months due to fire danger.

These days I'm into more the exploring type stuff. Doing multi day trips out to nowhere and back via as many forest roads and trails I can find to avoid highways. But browns and sandlake get the occasional run as well.

Out here there almost isn't anywhere we can go anymore without risking a ticket, dibblee point and south canaan are both patrolled and or gated. This annoys me. I'm gonna try sand lake and browns camp cause I here good things. What about farther north; astoria, westport, clatskanie, even longview/kelso. Anyspots out in sandy that are ok?

Out near me we had a few little spots but they are all busts now.
Supposed to get some actual marked trails but they are taking their time on it.

Up near Astoria and such I'm not 100% sure. But last I heard it's alot of gates as well.

Try and search out local 4x4 club forums and stuff like that. Hopefully you find some you can lurk on and gather info without joining if you don't want.
You can get alot of good info just "listening in" as to whats good or not and what sounds like trouble.

There is an area opening sometime soon NE of Vancouver, WA in the old burn area. (Could already be opening.)

I just figure a warning now is better than finding out what they do if they catch you. Depending on their mood around here it's anything from just a couple hundred dollar ticket. To really huge ticket and they impound your rig.

I have been stopped out there (here) twice now and have gotten kinda lucky as far as tickets go. I am a low impact off-road enthusiast, but, I understand that DNR and such are just doing there job (patrolling). There are A-holes out there who dump trash/burn cars etc. that ruin it for the rest of us. That area TeamCF is talking about is in the works, but as far as i know it could be up to 5-10 years before it is actually open. This is according to the last DNR guy I talked to. There are organizations working with them who are volunteering their time to make the trails and such, I have some info on who to contact to help this along. Hope this helps some. Basically, for me, I've pulled the swampers off, put the A/T's back on and won't be crossing any tank traps or going around any gates anymore. The fines/potential towing is not worth it. Thanks, Spencer

I've not been down to those dunes yet.
Like you say the distance starts to become an issue. Kinda like why drive down there when Sand Lake is closer, save the $$ for more trips. But yeah, they are supposed to be really good.

I am going to try to get involved in that yacolt burn stuff. I can literally spit on it from my house. They are really trying to do some good for the offroad community and I feel that helping is a way to payback/earn my place on the trail..

ya i would help but like i said, that's an hour and a half away and sand lake is almost 2 and a hours away. it would be nice if there was somewhere closer to where i live but i guess beggars cant be choosers.